Arum believes that criticism of Fury from Usik’s team is unacceptable
Head of the promotion company Top Rank Bob Arum criticized the team of the WBO/WBA/IBF/IBO world heavyweight champion Alexandra Usik. According to Arum, the Ukrainian team should not blame the WBC belt holder Tyson Fury in an injury, due to which the fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion was postponed.
“The professional fighter that is Tyson Fury suffered a cut during training. This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. And when the other side doubts this, despite the fact that the fighter spent a lot of time preparing for a fight that had to be postponed, it is ridiculous. It’s no surprise that Fury was offended by this. It would hurt me too.”
“Why does this always happen in boxing when an unfortunate injury occurs and the other side opens its mouth as if it was the fault of the fighter who suffered it? This doesn’t make any sense. We have to do better in boxing. And Egis Klimas, a great guy and my friend, should know this well.”
According to the official version, two weeks before the fight with Usik for the title of absolute heavyweight champion, Fury was injured during a sparring with the Croatian boxer Smakichi. The “Gypsy King” himself commented on the situation: “In the fifth round, I received an elbow to the eye, a cut on the eye. Apparently I ended up in the hospital and had 11 stitches. They have medical reports, they have everything…”
Smakichi, in turn, emphasizes the unintentionality of inflicting injury on the Briton: “I felt that I was throwing a punch, but he pulled my head forward, and perhaps I hit him with my elbow. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Fury’s injury required stitches, due to which Tyson did not have time to recover for the fight with Usik. According to British cutman Jorge Capetillo, the boxer will need at least three months to recover. After this, the chairman of the General Authority of Saudi Arabian Entertainment, Turki Al al-Sheikh, announced that the boxing evening on February 17 in Riyadh has been canceled and purchased tickets will be refunded.
Usik’s manager Egis Klimas reacted emotionally to this story: “Tyson Fury is a damn coward who will do everything not to meet Usik. He asked his henchman to hit him on the forehead with a frying pan.”
The promoter of the Ukrainian champion, Alexander Krasyuk, spoke in a similar vein. He questioned the authenticity of the video, which allegedly shows the injury suffered by Tyson Fury in a sparring match with Agron Smakichi.
Soon, the unification fight for the title of absolute world champion in heavyweight received a new date – Fury and Usik should meet in the ring on May 18. The event, as before, will be hosted by the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.
Penalties for boxers who refuse to fight are $10 million. At the same time, the contract for the fight between the Ukrainian and the British has a rematch clause.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
